


Reylo Dinktober 2018 Ficlets

by ReyreyButt



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: A/B/O-Verse, Alpha Ben, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Canonverse AU, Crack, Dark, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Crack, Force Bond (Star Wars), Gen, Kylo is a werewolf, Omega Rey, Pregnancy, Reylo - Freeform, Reylo Baby, Reylo babies, Suicide Attempt, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-09
Updated: 2018-11-16
Packaged: 2019-08-19 05:09:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16528013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReyreyButt/pseuds/ReyreyButt
Summary: These ficlets are inspired by myReylo Dinktober 2018drawings. I used each day's drawing/caption as the prompt for each chapter, although some ficlets will only be tangentially related to the drawing/caption. Each chapter is a new story, will be short (less than 1000 words), and will (probably) not be connected to all the other chapters.This was my very first d/Inktober (digital Inktober) and I'm so happy I completed it! I used the official Inktober 2018 prompts, but I added a Reylo twist, putting them in ridiculous AU situations each time. I'm very proud of this collection, so I really hope you like them!





	1. Day 1: Poison

**Author's Note:**

> All these ficlets will be AU, some will be cracky, and some will have a smattering of plot holes due to the word-count limit-- but mostly because this is just a fun writing exercise for me, so I hope you'll take them in stride and have fun reading them as well!
> 
> Please mind the tags! I'll be updating them as I go along.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this was unexpectedly dark and not the ficlet I originally intended to write for this drawing. Woops.
> 
> TW: Attempted suicide by ingestion of poison. Please skip if that makes you uncomfortable.

  

 

 **  
** The first time Rey ate the highly poisonous and extremely deadly mushroom _Black Knight of Ren_ , she did not die.

  
  
She should have. As children, they have been warned against it, to never touch it, or even go near it. It will kill you. There were tales of it being so toxic that even just a whiff of the smell is fatal. But that one fateful afternoon, she was on the run from the King’s men. She had been running for so long, and they were finally catching up to her. She went deep into to forest to hide from them, for she will surely die a cruel and painful death at their hands if they catch her.

  
  
She was exhausted and out of breath. The dizzying damp and mustiness of the dark forest, where sunlight itself struggles to enter, is making things worse; it disoriented her, she was hearing the thumping of the men’s horses from all around her. She looked around her surroundings to search for something, anything, to defend herself with. Fallen trees thick with moss, twigs, rotten leaves, tendrils of thin vines, they were all of no use to her.

  
  
At the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of black, and when she turned she saw it. The deadly _Black Knight of Ren_ , a cluster of it, in fact. Their velvety caps were so inky black they looked like they were sucking the light and colors of anything surrounding them. White spots dotted its surface, and whether it was a trick of the light or her delirious exhaustion, she wasn’t sure, but they seemed to be moving, beckoning to her.

  
  
The thumping in the ground was increasingly becoming louder, and in her terror and panic and sheer desperation, she knelt in front of the mushrooms and chose her own destiny. She would rather die at her own hands than at the cruel King’s men’s.

  
  
Without hesitation, she tore off a chunk of the mushroom from one of the bigger caps; a puff of black powder emanated at the rip. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and exhaled for the last time as she bit a tiny sliver off of the charcoal-black piece. She knew even a smaller bite would kill her. She chewed carefully, her eyes closed all the while. She could smell the spores, she could smell darkness, and burning, and she could not explain how but she could smell the way you can see red. She could hear the men’s horses now, their whinnies and snorts, as well as the cruel men’s loud voices, but they were muddled as if she was going deaf; nearer and louder, she could also hear a deep buzzing and electricity. Faintly she felt herself falling backward. The mushroom tasted of nothing, at first, but before she could even register the unendurable bitterness, as well as the disgusting shouts of triumph of the men, her mind turned off and then there was blackness, and then nothing…  
  
  
…

  
…

  
…

  
…

  
…

  
  
Rey woke up.

  
  
She was disoriented at first. Then confused. And then panicked, and furious. When she realized where she was, she felt an inconsolable sorrow. She cried and wept and howled, for she remembered everything.

  
  
She remembered a man. Tall, with dark eyes, dark hair, and pale skin. She remembered his broad shoulders, strong arms, and a delicate scar bisecting half of his face; a handsome, but unconventionally so, angular face. She remembered his name, Kylo. She remembered his gentleness, but also his quick temper (but he was always kind to her, never hurt her.) She remembered their fights, and their courtship, and when they decided to get married and live together. She remembered their tiny cottage, and the meadow and farm animals surrounding it. She remembered their love and their lovemaking. She remembered how he whispered her name, “Rey,” like a prayer, when they would come together. She remembered how, for the first time, she finally felt she was not alone. She remembered it all. She lived it. For five years, she lived it, and it was all gone. It was all in her head.

  
  
As soon as the last of her sobs finally left her, she stood up on weak and wobbly knees and walked out of the forest and back towards the village.

  
  
When she returned to the house where she lived, the guardians were surprised to see her. They all thought she was gone. Left for dead at the forest. They explained that when the King’s men found her, she had already succumbed to the _Black Knight of Ren_ that she had eaten, and they left her there to rot.

  
  
That was five days ago.

  
  
Rey walked back out for the house, her realization was making her head spin. She did not look back and she did not listen to their calls. She was feeling weak and hungry, but blooming within her chest was a heady hope. A hope that she would get back the life that she had dreamed of, that she would get back to her beloved. She walked, then she ran, straight into the dark forest. She felt an unshakable conviction and belief; she had no need for proof or evidence, she knew how she felt. She knew what she had to do.

  
She knelt down in front of the mushrooms, and lovingly stroked the caps. She inhaled the spores, and then tore off a big piece with care.

  
For the second time in her life, Rey ate the _Black Knight of Ren_ . The last thing she remembered before everything went black was a deep, honeyed voice, whispering with what sounded like relief.

  
“Rey.”

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PS all of these are unbeta'd, I apologize in advance for any typos or wonky grammar. 
> 
> I'm on Twitter! I post Star Wars/Reylo stuff and my artworks over there. Follow me!  
> [@ReyreyButt](https://twitter.com/ReyreyButt)


	2. Day 2: Tranquil(izer)

 

 

Rey was nervous.

 

 

She could hear her heart beating through her chest.

 

 

This is it. She’s gonna get them this time.

 

 

Looking through the scope of her tranq-gun, she adjusted an iota one last time from her lookout post as she waited for the poachers to come out from the brush. She was sure she heard a rustling and a dark shadow go through there not ten seconds ago. The sky was clear, not a breeze in the air, _and_ it was a full moon. Any poacher stupid enough to encroach on _her_ reserve tonight will deserve what’s coming to them. Well, it wasn’t really _hers_ ; the entire land is owned by the Skywalker-Organa family and entrusted to the Foundation that she is a part of, also founded by the family, to help protect the wildlife and manage the reserve.

 

 

Rey, Lead Wildlife Ranger of the Alderaan Wildlife and Nature Reserve— one of the country’s best-kept secrets and most successful wildlife programs— takes her job very seriously. How she crawled out from her sad, miserable, and tragic past is due to the help and generosity of the family, especially Lady Leia Skywalker Organa-Solo; she saw Rey's determination, how hard she worked, and her general badassery, so she helped her. The family trusted her and she will not let them down.

 

 

The Skywalker-Organa family are practically _royalty_ , descended from a line of Kings and Queens of the Land of Alderaan Old. They weren’t monarchs anymore these days, their royal ancestry consisted of a series of abdications until no one was left for the throne. However, they were still insanely rich, still stupendously secretive (anyone would be lucky to even have _heard_ about them), and, yep, still werewolves.

 

 

Just this morning, Lady Leia visited their office to offer more assistance regarding her current predicament.

 

 

“Rey, you obviously need help. These poachers have been trying to catch our Lothcats for a while now. And thanks to you they’ve always been unsuccessful, but we’ve also yet to catch any of them. You’ve been with us for three years, you should know by now you can always ask for anything. Especially if it’s for the park. New guns? Traps? More manpower?”

 

 

“We have everything we need, Lady Leia. But thank you.” Stubborn, as always.

 

 

“This isn’t a personal vendetta or something like that, is it?”

 

 

“Nope. Not at all. No-siree.”

 

 

Lady Leia rolled her eyes. “Well, in any case, I’m sending my son tonight to assist you at lookout. He needs more involvement in the park, anyway.”

 

 

Rey couldn’t hide her grimace quick enough. She and Kylo Benjamin Skywalker Organa Solo, Ben for short, have met just recently when he had just returned from his “sabbatical,” and for some reason, the handful of times that they met was always wrought with a weird tension. She didn’t like it, or him particularly. He was too smug for her taste. “Erm, I really don’t think that’s necessary, Lady Leia—”

 

 

“For once in my life, Mother, I actually agree with her.” Ben interrupted, barging into her office.

 

 

Rey had to fight the urge to rub her temples with her fingers. _Great_ , she thought, _his princely_ _highness is here._ _Strutting around with that mountain of a body, and that stupid scar on his face, and those arms, and his eyes, and his hair must be so soft_ _—_ _Who does he think he is??_

 

 

Rey huffed at the memory. She needed to focus and not be distracted by _him_ , who still hasn’t shown up for look-out duty, by the way, what a surprise. She rolled her eyes one last time as she returned her attention to the view of her scope.

 

 

Her laser-sharp focus returned when she heard scuffles and saw movement behind the bushes. With her eyes trained on the scope and her finger on the trigger, she finally had visual on several silhouettes scuttling out of the undergrowth and—

 

 

“Gotcha.”

 

 

_Fwip_

 

 

_Fwip_

 

 

_Fwip_

 

 

She made three consecutive shots with her gun. Using tranquilizer to apprehend the poachers is pretty unconventional, but she wanted them alive, _and_ it was actually effective because seconds later she heard the unmistakable thump of several bodies falling over unconscious.

 

 

Rey hurried down from her lookout post to check on the poachers while radioing-in to Poe for some backup. “Poe, I got them! I got them! Please send in a truck!” She was breathless with excitement as she ran down to the knocked-out perpetrators.

 

 

“That's great, Rey! Sending Finn and Rose ASAP, over.”

 

 

She spotted two men lying face down on the grass, Trandoshian hunters by the look of them, just as she suspected. But she stopped in her tracks because she could have sworn she shot _three_ of them. Scanning the grounds, she saw a large animal lying on its side a few meters away. Her heart sank at the thought that she accidentally shot one of the park's resident animals, one of the Lothwolves, it seems. She knelt down in front of the beast, checking for injuries. As she leaned closer though, she heard muttered cursing.

 

 

_Wait, what?_

 

 

And then it hit her.

 

 

“Oh, no.”

 

 

She turned the animal's head for closer inspection, and she saw it, the unmistakable scar running down the left side of the wolf’s face. She just shot the Prince of Alderaanian Werewolves with a tranq-gun. In the butt.

 

 

“What the fuck did you do, Johnson!?” Ben said in his deep, albeit slurred, werewolf voice, before going out like a light.

 

 

She radioed Poe again.

 

 

“Uhm, Poe? Yeah, uhm, I'm also gonna need a medic.”

 

 

 


	3. Day 3: Roast

 

Their first trip out of town together was already a disaster.

 

 

Their car broke down, then it rained hard, then when they finally arrived at their picnic site, they discovered that they had left their picnic basket back at his place. But somehow, in a mixup of who should bring what, they both brought marshmallows.

 

 

They were cold, and hungry, and just a little bit annoyed.

 

 

But they found that no matter their predicament, they couldn't find it in themselves to be completely bummed out, because, well, they had each other. They finally found someone exactly like them. 

 

 

Rey and Ben were both mages, and in the current century that they were in, mages have become more and more rare, and increasingly secretive about their identities. When they first met and found out that they both shared the same “skills,” and especially that they were within the region of compatibility age-wise (age gaps over a century wide is generally frowned upon in their community), they hit it off right away.

 

 

After several dates, a few arguments, and innumerable make out sessions, they both decided that they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together.

 

 

“How does something like this even happen to us? We're mages for kriff's sake.” Ben groused, trying to get comfortable beside Rey on their blanket spread on the damp grass.

 

 

“I don't need to remind you that we can't use magic in the presence of non-mages, you know that. There are rules, as much as we want to just conjure our food out of thin air right now.” Rey replied patiently.

 

 

It was getting dark, and the last of the picnickers were beginning to leave. “Ugh, I know. I'm hungry. Let's just go back to town, eat along the way, and make out at home. I'm sorry this trip is such a failure.” Ben said, burying his head on Rey's shoulder.

 

 

“Hey, none of that,” Rey chided. “These things happen, even to magical beings with aeonian life-spans,” Rey replied, then, looked around until she was satisfied that there was nobody left but them, “let's just roast our marshmallows before we go back home. Might as well.”

 

 

“We don’t have matches Rey, or anything dry for kindling.”

 

 

Rey just looked at him, grinning, and raised her eyebrows suggestively.

 

 

“But you just said we can’t--”

 

 

“Nobody’s here. Everyone left. I promise. You can check again.”

 

 

And sure enough, they were the only people left at the picnic site. 

 

 

With a flick of her wrist, the bag of marshmallows flew to her hands. With a jerk of her finger, the bag popped open, and with a little whisk two large marshmallows popped out and hovered above her palms.

 

 

Also grinning now, Ben sat up and faced her and just as effortlessly conjured a flame on his open palm. “I love you so much, you know that?”

 

 

And so that was how two mages in love spent their first picnic trip together, roasting marshmallows over magical flames and gazing so lovingly at one another. They were in their tiny bubble of bliss, their besotted faces illuminated by the fire, the sweet smell of caramelized sugar wafting through the air, that they almost didn’t notice a loud group of teenagers coming around the bend.

 

 

Ben quickly extinguished the flame while Rey looked around frantically for a place to hide what she thought were suspiciously roasted marshmallows. In her panic she said squeaked “open your mouth!” She shoved two into Ben’s open maw and one into her own.

 

 

Their exaggerated howls of pain definitely weirded out the teens more than their magical marshmallow roasting would have.

 

 

 

 


	4. Day 4: Spell

 

 

The first three decades of Ben Solo’s life had been bad. It was full of angst, bad decisions, and worse consequences. Everything was compounded by messy familial relationships and expectations, and a terrible Alpha temper. He felt untethered and extremely lonely, though he'd never admit it.

  
  


This all changed when he met Rey, a stubborn Omega who just transferred to his department to work on the same project.

  
  


In the beginning, they hadn't gotten along at all. Rey thought he was boorish and smug. Although in hindsight, he does agree with her, back then they clashed and argued like cats and dogs. 

  
  


However, despite their spats and squabbles, it was undeniable that they had a sort of connection that drew them to one another. Maybe it was their unspoken loneliness that they somehow sensed in one another, or their secret but mutual attraction to each other’s scents, or maybe both. 

  
  


Rey never took shit from any Alpha who looked down on others, especially not Ben. She was honest with him and told him his attitude sucked, and this was the last thing he expected from an Omega. He acted annoyed, of course, but deep inside he was in awe of her. She grounded him, and he realized that maybe that was what he needed, someone to anchor him. Someone who wasn’t afraid or intimidated by him.

  
  


He realized that he wanted to be better for her, something that he has never felt for any other person before, let alone an Omega. He wanted to deserve her, wanted to worship her, wanted to make her happy. He had an almost uncontrollable urge to be protective of her, to be possessive with her, but he knew he had to hold back because he respected her and she was an Independent Omega Woman who needed no Alpha to “protect” her, dammit. He wanted her to trust him. He was truly falling in love with her.

  
  


Theirs was a classic tale of enemies to friends to lovers. Gradually, Rey warmed up to him. She noticed his quirks: how he moved his jaw when he’s agitated, that lip-biting thing he does when he’s deep in thought, how he runs his hand through his hair when he’s nervous, and a smile that’s becoming less and less rare whenever he’s around her. She was, she reluctantly admitted to herself, falling in love with this Alpha.

  
  


They became close friends. But they had  _ so much  _ unresolved sexual tension that they were driving their co-workers up a wall.

  
  


A couple of months later, Rey woke up to an unexpected breakthrough heat. She’d had too many heats she went through alone, and if she had to endure another one she felt like she was going to die. Before her mind was completely addled by her heat, she swallowed her (admittedly misguided) pride, called Ben and asked him, if he wasn’t too busy, to see her through her heat.

  
  


He was at her apartment in ten minutes.

  
  


After three days of learning about each other so very intimately, Ben finally had the courage to ask her out to dinner. She said yes. Their coworkers had never felt so much relief at learning that they were finally dating. A month after that, they were mated, their mating glands claimed and contented.

  
  


Six months later, they were engaged. They were supposed to get married the following year, but they were impatient and so very in love, so they went to the courthouse the following day and got married then and there. They couldn’t wait to start their lives together.

  
  


They tried for a while to have a baby, but to Rey’s frustration and Ben’s concern, they just couldn’t. They went to several doctors, and the general consensus seemed to be that because of Rey’s rough childhood in the Foster system, her past malnourishment seemed to have affected her fertility.

  
  


Ben held her while she cried and cried, whispering words of love and comfort and assurance. No matter, they still had each other. They were still a family.

  
  


They stopped trying, and like so many things that finally happen just as you stop thinking so hard about them, Rey got pregnant. 

  
  


They have a baby boy.

  
  


That beautiful boy, five years old now, was bounding happily to him, immediately after he and his mom arrived home from his school. Rey had the pick-up duty today.

  
  


“Dada! Dada! Guess what?” 

  
  


“What is it, Ani?” Ben picked him up and kissed his cheek, then went to his beautiful wife and kissed her deeply, to the shrieks of amusement of their son.

  
  


“Mama, tell him!” 

  
  


“I have a better idea, why don’t we show it to him, baby?” Rey said, leading them all to Ani’s study table in his room.

  
  


Ben sat them down in front of the table while Rey watched from behind. Ben gave her an inquiring look, which she returned with a knowing wink.

  
  


“Okay, buddy, what’s the big surprise? I can’t take it anymore.” Ben said, watching Ani set up his papers and pens.

  
  


“I learned how to spell my name, Dada!” Ani exclaimed excitedly. He beamed with pride at the chorus of praises and encouragement from his parents.

  
  


Then he set pen to paper and spelled A-N-A-K-I-N

  
  


Ben was so proud; he adored his handwriting and his reversed N’s and dotted i.

  
  


Rey was smothering Ani with kisses, and as he looked at them, he had to take a deep breath because the overwhelming fact that this is his life, this is his family, is making his chest swell with so much joy he could hardly breathe.

  
  


His life is good now. But if he could live his life all over again, he would still take the bad years if it meant having this, his family, Rey and Ani, in the end. There will always be challenges, there will be fights, and he’s already getting ready for Ani’s adolescent years, but he wouldn’t trade this life for anything in the world.

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof really didn't know where I was going with the chapter. It feels so disconnected with the prompt. O well *shrug* Unbeta'd as usual


	5. Day 5: Chicken

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> College AU Reylo: Chicken-themed meet-cute

 

 

Ben was just enjoying his bucket of fried chicken wings, wandering aimlessly around the University fairgrounds, when he sees the most beautiful girl he’s ever laid eyes on.

  
  


She had her hair up in three messy buns and wore her hoodie off her shoulders. Her denim shorts showed off her tanned and toned legs, and she wore combat boots. She was walking towards his general direction, and as she got closer, Ben noticed a smattering of freckles on her nose and cheeks, her friendly eyes a lovely moss green color. And she was carrying a chicken.

  
  


He must have been staring, because the girl suddenly stopped, her eyes narrowed at him accusingly and a slight frown gracing her lips. The brown hen she was cradling clucked softly.

  
  


He quickly shut his mouth that had somehow drifted open as he stared at her, and put down the chicken wing he had been holding halfway to a bite. But before he could say “hi” or something more stupid like “I think you’re really beautiful would you like to have coffee with me?” she quickly turned and went back the way she came.

  
  


He groaned. She must have thought he was so weird. “Real smooth, grease fingers,” he said to himself.

 

\---

 

Classes resumed a week later. He ran through campus, dodging other students who were walking at a leisurely “not-late-for-class” pace. He knew Professor Holdo docked points for tardiness, so he was out of breath and his ears were ringing by the time he got to class and sat down that he didn’t even notice who sat right beside him.

  
  


“No chicken today?” She whispered.

  
  


He frowned as he turned towards the source of the voice, confused and a little annoyed. But his breath hitched the moment he laid eyes on her, the girl from the fair. Chicken girl.

  
  


“I could ask you the same question,” he replied, a smile slowly creeping up his face.

  
  


She snorted and wrinkled her nose, and it was the most adorable thing Ben has ever seen.

  
  


“I’m Ben, by the way, Ben--”

  
  


“Solo. I know who you are. I’m Rey. Johnson.” she reached out to shake his hand.

  
  


“Oh. You do? How?”

  
  


“You’re the famous Benjamin “son of Dean Leia Organa” Solo. Also, we were in the same Chem Bio class last year.”

  
  


Ben grimaced. How could he have missed her? “Sorry,” he muttered.

  
  


She just shrugged and gestured for him to pay attention to Professor Holdo.

  
  


After ten minutes of hearing the Professor’s lesson but not really understanding what she was saying, he couldn’t take it anymore, he had to ask her.

  
  


“Rey, at the fair last week, with your chicken, what was that about?”

 

 

She looked at him and sighed. “You were eating chicken. I didn’t want to upset Kylo.”

  
  


If he wasn’t confused before, he sure was now. “Kylo?”

  
  


“My chicken, Kylo Hen. I didn’t want her to see someone eating her own kind. I had to get her away from you.”

  
  


“You named your chicken Kylo Hen. And more importantly, why do you have a chicken? And why did you bring her to the fair?” He was grinning now, enjoying this conversation more and more.

  
  


“Yep. Named him after my favorite character from War of Stars. And why not? People keep chickens as pets all the time. And the student org who ran the petting zoo asked if they could borrow her for the afternoon. And why am I even explaining all this to you?” She rolled her eyes but he can tell she was trying to hide her smile. She was enjoying this too.

  
  


He was getting excited. And nervous, all of a sudden. Rey was so easy to talk to.

  
  


They were quiet for a while when Professor Holdo shot them a stern look.

  
  


“I’d like to meet Kylo Hen,” Ben whispered, after a while.

  
  


“Really? Okay. Promise you won’t bring fried chicken.” Her eyes were alight and she looked so adorable trying to stifle a grin.

  
  


Ben’s heart was beating so fast. A stupid smile plastered on his face. More timidly, still afraid of rejection, he said, “coffee afterward?”

  
  


Rey’s cheeks were blooming pink. She stole a look at him, smiled, and nodded her assent.

  
  


Ben has never been more excited to meet a chicken.

  
  
  
  


 

 


	6. Day 6: Drooling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Force bond AU. Kylo Ren is not with the F.O.

 

 

Before Rey joined the resistance, she’d never had any real friends, people that she truly cared about. But now, as she joined the war against the First Order as the apprentice of the last Jedi, she finally found what she can cautiously say is her first family.

 

Master Luke Skywalker found her in Jakku when the Resistance was there on a secret mission. When he found out that she was force sensitive, he immediately offered to take her under his wing, to teach her the ways of the Force. She had apparently been the first Force-sensitive that he has found in the last 10 years. 

 

Rey adamantly refused at first, of course. She was waiting for her family to come back. 

 

Luke cajoled her into joining them by showing her cheap Force tricks, which she rolled her eyes at, but really warmed her up to him. They eventually developed a tentative friendship. She helped in some of their undercover operations, and soon met Finn, Rose, and Poe. They became fast friends.

 

All those people and their constant companionship gradually chipped away at her resolve to stay and wait for her parents, until finally, on the day that the Resistance finished their mission and was about to leave the planet for good, she tearfully left her AT-AT for the last time and climbed aboard their ship, hand-in-hand with Rose and Finn. The friendship that she found with the Jedi, the former stormtrooper, the mechanic, and the pilot  won her over. She was especially excited at the learning about the Force and potentially becoming a _Jedi,_ that the lie that she had been telling herself about her parents was slowly forgotten.

 

Rey had been with the Resistance for three standard months, and although everyone welcomed her with open arms, she had a feeling that nobody there truly understood her unique kind of loneliness; the kind that was etched deep in her bones, that had been there for too long; a loneliness that she hides behind a mask of high-spirits and joviality.

 

That was until she met Kylo Ren.

 

Master Luke and Rey trained every day before sunrise. She had finally learned to fully open up her mind to the Force by midday that day. It had been exhausting, but her job wasn’t done yet. Aside from Jedi “training” she also had other responsibilities around the Resistance Base. She fixed ships that needed repairing and conducted pre-flight inspections, and that day had been especially taxing because of an upcoming Resistance mission.

 

By the time her shift ended, she was drained and absolutely famished. The mess hall was almost empty when she arrived, but when she looked at the food trays, she almost cried. They were empty.

 

“It will be ten more minutes before we get a new batch out, Rey, sorry. The new squadron of pilots arrived today and we underestimated their appetites,” the cafeteria lady explained to her sympathetically. 

 

“It’s okay. I can wait,” she sighed.

 

Slumping down on one of the empty lunch tables, her muscles aching and her stomach growling, she tried to meditate to stave off the hunger and exhaustion and prevent her body from collapsing. Might as well, she shrugged.

 

A minute into clearing her mind, she felt a strange sensation. Her entire body was prickling, something was tugging at her mind, and all of a sudden she heard a rushing noise as if all of the sound and air in the room had been sucked out. The activity from the kitchen was suddenly muted as if she was hearing them underwater. She opened her eyes.

 

Her breath hitched at what she saw: rippling arm muscles, a broad chest, a splash of dark hair. The mysterious was training, and he was shirtless, his alabaster skin riddled with moles and scars, and he was glistening with sweat. He was so tall, but he was also graceful and quick as he swung a training sword. She had never seen anyone as beautiful as this man. 

 

She was positively entranced by his body and his movements that she just realized there were so many things wrong with what she was seeing. Did she just see a handsome, half-naked, sweaty man training in the middle of the mess hall?

 

A quick shake of her head did not make the apparition disappear. She checked to see if anyone else in the mess hall saw what she was seeing, but they appeared rather oblivious, even to the manly grunts and huffs that he was making. Inexplicably, the sounds that he was making was causing heat to bloom in her stomach and a flush to form on her face. 

 

This must be some sort of mirage or daydream if only  _ she _ can see it. She chalked it up to her exhaustion and hunger, coupled with the meditation she went into (she made a mental note to tell off Master Luke for not warning her about these kinds of things).

 

Well, she’s not going to waste an opportunity like this. It’s not every day that she can ogle at something so beautiful. She cradled her face in her hands, and set her elbows on the table, and just stared.  

 

She was happily staring for a couple of minutes (maybe she was drooling, maybe not) when he suddenly stopped with his back towards her. And slowly, heaving all the while, he turned and looked at her. The sudden shift in the interaction made her jump a little. She didn’t realize he could see her as well.  

 

There was a shock on his face for a millisecond, as if just realizing that someone had been observing him undetected. Then his eyes narrowed, looking at her with suspicion and confusion. 

 

Now that he was motionless, Rey noticed how piercing his eyes were, and that he had a scar running down his left cheek, and how his long hair stuck to the sweat on his face. 

 

They were taking stock of one another, both motionless, both quiet, until their eyes met for the first time. 

 

Rey gasped at the sensation of memories and thoughts flooding her head, like a deluge, like a waterfall. Images flashed, sounds overlapped, and feelings of anger and hate and loneliness gripped at her heart. These were not her feelings. These were not her memories. They were  _ his. _

 

The way the nameless man looked at her, really  _ looked _ at her, made her feel, for the first time in her life, that she was not alone.

 

They spoke with their eyes, and it felt like it stretched into eternity, but in reality, it was only a couple of seconds. Those two seconds were already too much, but also not enough, because she was extremely annoyed when Finn suddenly appeared in front of her, effectively blocking the man from her view, and waving his hands in her face.

 

“Hello? Rey? Anybody in there? You were majorly spacing out, peanut. You must be really exhausted.”

 

“Finn!” she tried to hide the exasperation in her voice. “I’m fine, I’m just-- I’m really tired. And hungry.”

 

When she looked back behind Finn, the man was gone, and she could not hide the disappointment in her face. 

 

“The food’s almost ready,” said Rose, eyeing her with concern. Poe joined them shortly after.

 

When the food finally arrived, Rey found that she wasn’t so hungry anymore. She picked at her food and forced herself to chew and swallow before her friends start asking her questions again. She forced herself to interact, but she would always glance sideways, hoping that the man would appear again. For the entire dinner, he never did.

 

They were walking back to their rooms when Rey couldn’t take it anymore. She had to ask them.

 

“Uhm, guys. I have a question.”

 

They were all ears, curious and maybe a little concerned.

 

“Do you guys… know somebody… from this base…” she hesitated, “uhm, a guy.”

 

Her friends looked at her expectantly. “Yes? Go on?”

 

Rey could feel her face heating up, but she soldiered on. 

 

“A tall guy with long, black hair, big, huge, massive, has a scar on the left side of his face.” She blurted it out in one go.

 

“Huh. Sounds like you’re describing Kylo Ren.” Poe said, tilting his head. “Rey… how do you know about Kylo Ren?”

 

“Have you seen him? Here? On the base??” The panic in Finn’s voice told her enough to decide that she’s about to lie to her friends.

 

“No? I just-- I heard some pilots talk about him?” she said lamely. “And I got curious.” She shrugged.

 

The three looked like they didn’t believe her, but couldn’t find a reason not to, so Rose explained.

 

“Kylo Ren is General Leia’s son!” Rose whispered to her conspiratorially.

 

“Yep, knew him when we were kids. He used to be called Ben Solo,” Poe added.

 

“And he’s kind of an asshole, Rey. He’s a leader of a rebel cell also fighting the F.O. but they are NOT on our side. They are extremists, brutal, merciless,” Fin said this with so much derision.

 

Rey was enraptured, whispering back, “what happened to him?”

 

“He used to be part of the Resistance, way before you guys came in,” explained Poe. “Something happened between him and his uncle Luke. Nobody’s really sure what, they’re keeping it hush-hush, but yeah, he left and formed his own group, the Knights of Ren.

 

Actually, it’s interesting that you mentioned him, Rey, now that I think about it because he’s also Force-sensitive like you. And he was also Luke’s apprentice before the big fallout.” She could be mistaken but she was sure she heard a tinge of suspicion in Poe’s voice.

 

“Huh. Interesting” was all she could say.

 

As they continued walking down the hallway to the rooms, the three kept talking in hushed tones of rumors and stories about Kylo Ren, but she was silent, she pretended to listen. She was lost in thought because as she recalled the memories that she saw earlier, it all clicked into place. And she realized, she knew everything about him. 

 

She knew Ben Solo. She’d seen his soul. And she had a suspicion that he knew everything about her as well.

 

Rey felt an excitement that she hadn’t felt in a long time. Her heart was fluttering and her palms were sweating at the thought of talking to him, of seeing him again. She was going to figure out how to connect with him tonight, even if it takes all night, she will try.

 

She said her goodnights to her friends and hurried back to her room.

 

As soon as the door shut, she closed her eyes and concentrated. Rey smiled at the fact that connecting with him suddenly became the easiest thing in the world. 

 

“Rey?” Kylo whispered. 

 

When she opened her eyes, Kylo was inches in front of her. 

 

He frowned a bit, raised his hand to her face, and wiped tears she didn’t even know had fallen from her eyes.

 

And then he told her the most comforting thing she has ever heard in her entire life.

 

“Don’t be afraid. I feel it too.”

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is almost 2000 words long heheh, I got carried away. I wasn't sure where this story was headed and was all over the place until about halfway into writing it, but I really like where it went in the end, so I hope you enjoyed reading it!
> 
> Also, hint at the drawing. Look closely at Rey's eyes. XD

**Author's Note:**

> PS all of these are unbeta'd, I apologize in advance for any typos or wonky grammar. 
> 
> I'm on Twitter! I post Star Wars/Reylo stuff and my artworks over there. Follow me!  
> [@ReyreyButt](https://twitter.com/ReyreyButt)


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